London, January 9 (ANI): Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has described the Indian government report that criticized the claim by IPCC over the faster than expected melting of Himalayan glaciers, as "voodoo science".

In 1999, Indian glaciologist Syed Hasnain, of Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, had said in an interview that all the glaciers in the central and eastern Himalayas could disappear by 2035.

Hasnain, who was then chairman of the International Commission on Snow and Ice's working group on Himalayan glaciology, has never repeated the prediction in a peer-reviewed journal.

He now says the comment was "speculative".

But, the claim found its way into the IPCC fourth assessment report published in 2007. Moreover, the claim was extrapolated to include all glaciers in the Himalayas.

Chapter 10 of the report says, "Glaciers in the Himalayas are receding faster than in any other part of the world."

The inclusion of this statement has angered many glaciologists, who regard it as unjustified.

Vijay Raina, a leading Indian glaciologist, attacked the claim in a report published by the Indian government in November.